This
small oblong book “The Story of Leather – A Trip Through a Modern Leather Plant
– a brief treatise in picture and text about the production of Chrome Upper
Leather” was written by The Ohio Leather Company in 1949 and is filled with
black and white photographs and text that explain the tanning process. The factory
began operations in Girard, Ohio as the Mahoning Leather Company in 1889. In
the 1930’s the company employed about 700 workers and during World War II, more
than 8,000 skins per day moved through the plant as it was then one of the
largest tanneries of its kind, always with a steady stream of hides shipped
directly from the Chicago stockyards. After the war, hundreds of men and women were
producing leather to be used in the manufacture of boots, shoes, belts, straps,
gloves and dozens of other accessories for the commercial market. Business began
to suffer during the 1960’s and the doors officially closed in 1971. The
property has remained vacant as the land is soaked with toxic waste such as
chromium sulfate, sodium sulfide, sodium chlorine, lime, ammonia salts,
sulfuric acid and mercury. Today the town of Girard is working with the EPA to
clean up and reclaim the land. This rare will gem is an interesting book about an
industry that is by and large no longer operating on a large scale in the US.